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Unlocking Potential: Enhancing Social Skills in Autistic Adolescents Through Telehealth

Unlocking Potential: Enhancing Social Skills in Autistic Adolescents Through Telehealth

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many healthcare providers to pivot to telehealth to continue offering essential services, including those for autistic adolescents. The study titled Brief Report: A Pilot Study Examining the Effects of PEERS for Adolescents Telehealth for Autistic Adolescents offers promising insights into the effectiveness of telehealth interventions for enhancing social skills in autistic adolescents. This blog will explore the key findings of the study and how practitioners can leverage these insights to improve outcomes for their clients.

Study Overview

The Program for the Enrichment and Education of Relational Skills (PEERS) is a well-established, evidence-based social skills intervention originally designed for in-person delivery. The study adapted PEERS for telehealth to assess its effectiveness among 22 autistic adolescents and their caregivers. The intervention included a 16-week protocol covering social skills such as initiating conversations, handling teasing, and participating in social activities.

Key Findings

The study yielded several significant findings:

Implications for Practitioners

These findings offer several actionable insights for practitioners:

Future Research

While the study offers promising results, further research is needed to validate these findings on a larger scale. Practitioners are encouraged to contribute to this growing body of research by documenting their telehealth interventions and sharing outcomes.

To read the original research paper, please follow this link: Brief Report: A Pilot Study Examining the Effects of PEERS for Adolescents Telehealth for Autistic Adolescents


Citation: Adler, E. J., Schiltz, H. K., Glad, D. M., Lehman, S. A., Pardej, S. K., Stanley, R. E., & Van Hecke, A. V. (2022). Brief Report: A Pilot Study Examining the Effects of PEERS for Adolescents Telehealth for Autistic Adolescents. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52(12), 5491-5499. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05666-0
Marnee Brick, President, TinyEYE Therapy Services

Author's Note: Marnee Brick, TinyEYE President, and her team collaborate to create our blogs. They share their insights and expertise in the field of Speech-Language Pathology, Online Therapy Services and Academic Research.

Connect with Marnee on LinkedIn to stay updated on the latest in Speech-Language Pathology and Online Therapy Services.

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